If I had money to burn (change of pace)

Okay, so I know I usually write about more... profound, deep things, but today I want to have some fun! I've been searching the web for Christmas presents, and came upon (well, was prompted by an e-mail from) Shop Bop. Such cute stuff, but wayyyy out of my price range. I decided to check out the clutch purses, just had to share a few....

As in, if I had money to burn, after buying a house and car, paying off debt, giving back to my parents, to my church, various charities, going on a great vacation... if I had any left to spend like crazy, I would probably buy all of these purses (all of these can be found on www.shopbop.com). I kid you not. Enjoy.

Ida Cinderella Bag (aptly named)

Disco Bag

Monica Leather Clutch

Crush Clutch

Cobra Tie Sachet

Bridgette Mesh Bag

Alas, this is the only one that fits into my meager budget...

Liseron Clutch

The 'one' I've been 'waiting' for...

Thought I'd never find you. Lo these many years, I've been waiting... in eerie fascination. What would you be like? In what way would you 'pop up' in my life? Would you be welcomed? Or cut out like a bad seed....?

And now I have you. What happens from here? Oh, my first... precious? unwanted? endearing? annoying?................ FIRST WHITE HAIR!

Ahhhh! What in the world!?!?!? I am devastated. Okay, not really, I'm not that vain. It's just such... a ... weird thing. I actually found it about a month ago, and immediately told the first person I saw (my roommate Sarah), then the following 3 or 4 people I saw (total strangers/friends of Sarah's). That was a weird reaction. And what a great first impression, 'oh yeah, I met Sarah's friend... she was... interesting...'

So, it sticks straight up about 1.5 inches, right in the front of my hairline, right in the part. Straight.up. One of the first thoughts I had was, 'I haven't even had kids yet, and I'm going gray!'

I've been asked if I will pull it out, but I have decided not to (as you can tell, I've told TOO MANY PEOPLE). I am curious as to what it will do. Will it grow out long and gracefully, or be one of thise kinky white-gray hairs. Will it be curly/wavy like the rest of my hair seems to be going? I will say that it is a nice snow-white. Not an ugly gray...

So anyway, what a year. I turned 30, have had a great religious/spiritual awakening, and have found my first white hair. This year will go down in the books, I tell ya...

Because I'm a total dork...

Let me preface this by saying that I am a voracious reader. Put it in front of me, I'll read it. Books, magazines, blogs of total strangers... I'll read it. In fact, I find myself reading people's blogs on MySpace, I have no idea who they are. I just love love love to read. If I could get paid to read... don't even get me started, I would be in heaven.

One of my favorite blogs is A Serious Job Is No Excuse. The writer often critiques the outfits of women she sees on the way to work. I always agree with her, although I have to say, I've been pretty grateful she would never see me walking to work. I often commit one of her major fashion faux pas; wearing flip flops with a work outfit. I pretty much wear them every day, because I walk 1/2 a mile to work. I'm sure this would be no excuse for her, but I will admit I did buy a cute pair of silver Steve Madden flats that I do wear often on my daily trek, because what she says makes sense. You can't look like a serious career woman, wearing Reef's and a suit... (not that I actually wear suits, but you get the idea, even in business casual, flip flops should be avoided).

Anyway, I was at Macy's in the shoe department, because it was the last day of DC's 'no sales tax week' and I figured I might as well check out the sales. Can't beat that bargin. I ended up finding a pair of Nina peep-toe heels which were 65% off the original price, totally cute. They had my size on display, and I asked to see if they had any in the back (a long shot, because of the sale, but it couldn't hurt). As I was waiting, I saw the author of the blog mentioned above. At first I thought, 'no way,' but on a whim I asked her. Yep, it was her. I'm sure I seemed like a total weirdo, but she was nice, said she's never had someone come up to her to tell her they read her blog. I told her I loved it, and read it every day (yep, weirdo!). We talked for a few minutes, and that was it. It was then that I realized... I'm wearing flip flops! Ahh, funny! Now, in my defense, I did run 14 miles yesterday, and my legs were killing me, but really... I probably would have worn them anyway. I comforted myself in the knowledge that at least I had on make-up, and that my hair looked good (just had it cut at Andre Chreky, thanks Adil!). I have to admit, there are times I've gone into Macy's looking like I just rolled out of bed...

So, as much as I am quite the fashionista in my head, in real life... not so much. Such a reality check, seeing her in a totally cute outfit. Mine... well, I was dressed pretty blah. I've been trying to tell myself that I need to dress up more, even on days where the only people who see me are my hairdresser, roommates, and tourists asking for directions. I have so many cute clothes, and seem to be saving them for special occassions. Well, that's just silly. I REALLY am going to try to wear them more often. It's just a shame not to. Of course, wearing 3-4 inch heels every day... now that's a different story!

I should go on more walks

So I'm staying in tonight, yeah I know its Friday, but I've been sick all week (I know, lame, whatever… I don't care). So I went on a much needed trip to CVS. As I was walking along, I noticed a squirrel climbing up a tree with something in its mouth. A really big something. When I got closer, I noticed it was another squirrel! A smaller squirrel. I literally gasped out loud… a hand over mouth gasp. For those of you who don't know, I had a squirrel as a special 'guest' in my house. And by special guest, I mean 'unwanted.' For three weeks it ran rampant, eating half an apple, but only taking one bite out of a banana (that was nice, I guess). For most of this time, I was the only one who saw it. It would actually run at me! So I have an extreme dislike for squirrels. Before, I thought they were kinda cute, running around with their acorns. Well not anymore…


So back to my story, the bigger squirrel was holding a smaller squirrel in its mouth. I thought I heard one of them squeak. Then it dropped the smaller squirrel to the ground. This is when I gasped out loud with my hand over my mouth. It made my stomach turn a little. It didn't move, and the bigger squirrel just stayed on the tree, waiting to go back down. I swear it acted like it was going to come at me (but I could be paranoid about that from past experiences). My first thought was 'are squirrels cannibals?' Because now I just assume any squirrel is up to no good. Then I thought that maybe the smaller squirrel was a baby, and the mom was trying to help it. Oh well, I would check it out on my way home from CVS.


So I'm walking along, and I pass a church, where a homeless man was laying at the front door. He was scratching his butt… under his pants. Now I usually feel sorry for homeless people when I see them, but this made my stomach turn a little. Maybe it was snowballing from the squirrel, who knows. Then I thought, 'is he really worried about what I think?' Some chick walking by, being queasy about him scratching his butt, is the least of his worries.


I make it to CVS, where there is another homeless guy- selling this newspaper that is written by homeless people (can't remember the name of it). He was very loudly and almost flamboyantly trying to sell it. He had a whole spiel. He said you could read poetry! Written by homeless people! You could help out the working homeless man! The one's that don't panhandle! For at least $1 you could enjoy this newspaper! He almost had me talked into it, but… not so much. He was gone when I left, or I might have gone ahead and bought one on the way out. I could use some good reading material. I just have no idea where that money would go. Besides, if I had any expendable income, I would gladly help out those less fortunate… by giving to organizations, not someone out on the street. But sadly, I do not.


So I was walking along, and I started thinking about an article I read on people.com (yes, I'm addicted, sue me). It was about how all of these Hollywood "It" girls are basically anorexic. I started thinking that these girls are who little girls look up to--- especially with fashion. I like how they dress- sometimes cute, sometimes classy, sometimes ridiculous. It's always fun to see what they wear (but I love clothes, so that's part of it). I started thinking about who I looked up to as 'fashion icons' when I was 8 (FYI: this article said girls that age are developing eating disorders). You know who I looked up to then for fashion? Madonna! Tiffany! Debbie Gibson! YIKES! But I would dress just as close to them as my parents would let me. I remember talking to my Mom probably 10-15 years ago about how fashion is cyclical, that things always come back in style—but that the 80's would NEVER come back, because the clothes were so awful. Well, it's back now, and kinda cute, I might add!


I also thanked the Lord that they weren't skinny stick girls, or I may have wanted to be, too. When I was 12 years old I was 5'3" and weighed 105 lbs. I was taller than all but one boy in my class! I remember one of the boys in my class (he was a tiny little thing) would always call me fat, but I would just ignore him. It never ever bothered me. I just hope if I ever have a little girl, she won't have to even think about the things little girls face these days.


So I'm still walking home. I get to the point where the squirrel fell from the tree. I don't see it there anymore. Then I glance down, and it was right next to my foot… dead It had moved about 3 feet. I gasped again. My ear even popped a little (weird). I would like to think the momma squirrel had tried to help the baby squirrel again, but it was too late. That maybe squirrels aren't evil after all. Anyway, I could not wait to get home.


Yeah, I should take more walks. You just never know what's going to happen, or what in the world will pop into my mind.

Sex and the City~words of wisdom

When it comes to relationships, maybe we're all in glass houses, and shouldn't throw stones. Because you can never really know. Some people are settling down, some are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less. Than butterflies...


Okay, now it's my turn:
I have come to a realization. Love. You dont get to pick who you fall in love with. Whatever preconception you had growing up, might as well throw it out the window. Rich, good looking, the guy you wanted to be behind the door on the Dating Game board game- aw just forget about it. Who chooses that love for you? God? Your heart? Who knows. But its not something you plan, its not something you choose, you just know. And you cant help it.


Have I met that guy? Not sure. But I do know that I will not let that man pass me by. I will keep my eyes open, my heart open. And to accept anything less, not gonna do it anymore.

No worries...was I worried?

Now, I have lived in this fair city for about 3 months, and so very often do I hear this statement- "no worries." I hear it all the time, from friends and co-workers, in person and in e-mails. This is not something I've heard people say a lot before, I guess it hasn't made it to ol Arkansas, yet. And the funny thing about it to me is that I really wasn't worried in the first place. Now, should I have been worried? Was the situation something I should REALLY have been worried about? Does the person saying this to me THINK I'm worried? And invariably I will hear/read this statement a lot in one day, so I notice it more. Makes me feel like I'm in freakin' Jamaica--"no worries mon, do what you gotta do mon." Not that I've actually been to Jamaica, but I've seen 'Cool Runnings,' I pay attention to popular culture. So I feel like I'm in Jamaica, except no pretty beach, no palm trees, no dread locks (okay, not many). Sometime I want to say "Hakuna Matata" back, but that would just reveal what a true nerd I am. Gotta keep that hidden!


Anyway, I will quit griping now.

My morning

I slept through my alarm clock the second time in two weeks; which made me late for work... WHAT IN THE WORLD! I mean, I have one of those fancy, Sharper Image alarm clocks, and it doesn't wake me up!!! Guess I'll go to CVS tonight and get a new one.


So, I head off to work, 15 minutes after I'm supposed to be there. And for those of you who don't know, I have a lovely walk to work. I walk past the Capitol, Supreme Court, it's just very pleasant. Well, not this morning. I was just so mad at myself for being late, fuming when I can't do anything about it. Well, as I'm walking, a dog decides to take a poop on the sidewalk. Right in the middle of it! (Senate side for you Hill people). Right as I was walking by. So I'm thinking "is this really going to be ONE OF THOSE DAYS?" The owner just said "when you gotta go, you gotta go!" I look at this black labs face, and it looks back as if to say "I'm cute, its totally fine I'm taking a big ol dump on the side walk, really lady, you should get over it." I swear, I busted out laughing!


So that put me in a better mood (as weird as that sounds). So I'm walking along, and I see a gaggle of tourists riding on Segways. Black and pink Segways. Now normally I see these people, and I think "how pathetic." Can't you just walk? Is it that hard?" I mean really, to be seen on one of those is just on the crazy side of embarassing. I also think about The Jetsons, but that's another thing. So today I thought, well that is actually a very smart mode of transportation, especially for tourists. Walking around this place can be exhausting. Kudos to whoever came up with this ingenius idea for people touring our Nations Capital!


So weird, this mood I'm in this morning...